Nonfloatable shank and means for securing same in alpha shoe



Oct. 3, 1933. s. ZIDE 1,928,989

NONFLOATABLE SHANK AND MEANS FOR SECURING SAME IN A SHOE Filed June 13, 1932.

IN VEN TOR.

7 Samuel Zide W W ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 3, 1933 t if Romain:

SHANK: MEANSIFOVR1'Y- I.

" m'mveiiafi relates to"new and useful im-' provements in shoes and more particularly to shank stifienersfithereforancl the-method of applying samevto, the shoes the primary. object being to provide a new andin proved shankstifiener applied in a mannerwhich' would prevent the stiffener from movingabout in place between the inner and outer'soles'a'nd thereby prevent the sole from becoming, broken;

A further object of the invention-resides in the provision ofia lshankstiifener which 'may be made of metal a'nd'utilized with means wherebyit may be caused to adhere firmly andypermanently to the inner and outer soles of the shoes to which it is applied.

Still another object of my inventionresides in the provision of a metal" shank stiffener which has a tape adhesively secured thereto and spirally 'wrapped therearound which may be adhesivelysecured permanently in place between the inner and outer soles of the shoe so as to prevent movement-of said stiffener after once being introduced in place, and is known as a non-floatable shank.

A further object resides in providing a device which is simple and durable in construction, ex-i tremely inexpensive to manufacture and one which will be very efficient in use.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be'hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out in'the specification and claim. 7

In the accompanying drawing forming a part 1 of this application:

Figure 1' is a perspective view of a shoe being formed on a last showing my improved shank stiffener applied in position;

V Figure 2 is a transverse section therethrough' as seen on. the line 2-2 of Figure 1, with the last removed;

Figure 3 is an edge elevation of fener of the usual type; V

Figure 4 is a plan view thereof Figure 5 is a plan view of a shank stiffener wrapped spirally with the tape ready to be applied to use; 7 l i Figure 6 is a transverse section therethrough, as seen on the line' 6-6 of Figure 5; and 7 Figure"? is a transverse section asseen on the line 77' of Figure 5. v a 'It is customary in the manufacture of ladies shoes tointroduce betweenthe inner and outer soles thereof what is known as a shank stiffener, usuallyia metal strip compoundly curved with the shank stif means at one r'bcm nds'rdr the tackin'g thereof in place In many instanceaJthe'tacking'of "the stripor shank stiffener is omitted becausethe *tack would project' through the very thin soles which are. used in ladiesfshoes, At, best,,only w joneend of the stiffenerfis tacked, this beingthe jend'nearestthe heel; 'Under such circumstances itheshank stiffener'has a tendency 'to float or wobble; that isymov'eab'out'in its placevbetwe'en the inner and outer soles. "This i's induced by the bending of theshoe atthe shank during the natural walking'process. Air poc'kets are formed by the "movement back and forth of the soles of the shoe as the wearer walks thereon and the floating of this shank stiffener is thus further ag- 7o gravated so that there is. a tendency to force the outer sole away from the inner sole, causing a breaking of the outer sole at the shank portion thereof. This is. particularly true with shoes wherein high heels are used and for. the past few years high heels of the spike type have been" prevailing, so that this type or shoe has been caused to break and give the wearer, the dealer and the manufacturer considerable trouble.

My improved invention contemplates theproso vision of a shank stiffener and means for the application thereof to use whereby the difliculties heretofore mentioned will be overcome. v

In describing theinvention, I shall refer to the drawing in which similar reference characters 35 designate corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which the numeral 1 designates a last about which is being formed a shoe,

the upper of which'is designated by the numeral 2. This upper is secured in the usual manner oo to the inner sole 3 and applied thereto in the usual manner is the outer sole 4.

A shank stiffener designated by the numeral 5 is provided, the same being of a type known to the'art'and clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4 of I the drawing. This particular type of stiffener is formed of metal, compoundly curved and wider atjone endthan at the other, the wide end being adapted to be applied adjacent the heel portion OfthB shoe. The intermediate portion of ..this:l00

shank stiffener is grooved as shown at 6 and at the wider end there are provided the'openings 7 while at the smaller end of the stiffener there is provided a' single opening 8. These openings l permit, the stiffener to be tacked in place if desired, although, as stated above, it is frequentlythecase that tacks are not used or merely one .tack used at the end adjacent the heel.

Being formed of metal, it would be difiicult to get an adhesive which would enable the stiffener 1 0 to adhere to leather. In order to provide a means whereby an adhesive maybe used to secure the stiffener against floating, I wrap the stiffener 5 with a tape 9, said tape having an adhesive on its inner face to readily adhere to the stiffener 5. and said tape is spirally wrapped thereon,-as shown in Figure 5 with slight spaces between the convolutions., .Being. grooved as; shown'att 6; pockets are thus formed in the stiffener. This sole and the outer sole appliedthereto but in applying the stiffener in place, a heavy adhesive stiffener. This adhesive enters the pocket formed by the groove 6, enters between the convolutions bind'fsaid stiffener in place between the innerand outer soles and prevent s'aid stiffener from of the wrapped tape and fullytsaturates said tape.

Preferably a single tack is applied through one of the openings '7 tosecure the base portion ofthe stiffener in place and the adhesive fully applied to both sides of the wrapped stiffener willsecurely floating. or moving outof places The natural bn'ding'of the shoedu'ring walking will 'not'cause the stiffener to become displaced and thus the many diflicultiesencountered heretofore, due to the floating or moving of the'sha'nk stiffener, will be obviated.

'I'hejapplication of the spirally wound tape on the metal stiffener permits the adhesive to become effective when applied thereto. The application of this tape and the adhesive is a. simple and inexpensive step in the process of shoe manufacture so that the cost of the shoe is not increased but the durability of the shoe is greatly increased.

From the foregoing description of the con struction of my improved shank stiffener and the nethodro'f applying thesame to use, the value and V 'effectiveness'thereof will be readily understood stiffener is then applied in place on the inner" and it'will be seen that I have provided a simple, inexpensive and efficient means for carrying out the objects of the invention.

. While I have 1 particularly described the elements 'bestadapted to perform the functions set forth, it isobvious that various changes in form,

' proportion and in the minor details of constructionmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the principles of the invention" set forth in the appended claim.

, Having thus described the invention what is claimedis: v In'a shoejincludin'g an inner sole, an outer sole,

'a'rn'etal shank stiffener interposed the'rbetween and provided 'with a'longitudinalfgroove, and an adhesive tape wrapped spirally 'around' said stiffener providing pockets, in the grooved portion of said stiffener and an adhesive 'appliedto the inner and outer faces of said wrappedstiffener 

